Plans upset

However,Singh has been forced to put his project on hold for a couple of days due to food poisoning.

While the BJP leaders revelled in Narendra Modis projection as the partys prime ministerial candidate on September 13,party president Rajnath Singh began his own project,starting to do state-wise spadework for electoral preparations. In fact,in less than a months time he held a series of core group meetings with all states (except the five poll-bound states,and Bihar which is preparing for Modis rally). However,Singh has been forced to put his project on hold for a couple of days due to food poisoning. Not just that,he also had to cancel his meeting in Hyderabad and is likely to remain indisposed for some a couple of days in Delhi itself. But its not exactly complete rest for him. The continuing jostling for partys chief ministerial candidate in Delhi is keeping him busy.

TIGHT RACE

The race for the post of special secretary (internal security) has narrowed down,with names of two senior IPS officers being now considered for the post. A woman IPS officer from Union Territory cadre of 1977 batch,Kanwaljit Deol,is being considered while the other contender is Jayanto N Choudhury,a 1978 batch IPS officer of Assam Meghalaya cadre. While Deol is DG (Investigation),National Humar Rights Commission,Choudhury is the DG of Assam. The post of special secretary (internal security),considered a coveted job,is vacant since last month after the retirement of S Jayaraman. If Deol lands the job,she could be the first woman to occupy the post. Will another male bastion fall?

PAYBACK TIME

While a US visa for Narendra Modi remains a contentious issue,his supporters have decided to pay homage to the anti-US Vietnam War General Vo Ngyuen Giap on behalf of the BJP prime ministerial candidate. A day after Defence Minister A K Antony visited Vietnamese embassy to pay his homage,former Delhi MLA Vijay Jolly on Wednesday visited the embassy and issued a statement claiming that he has paid the homage on behalf of Modi as well. Incidentally,Modi,who spoke to Antony the other day,in his tweets has not deemed it fit to pay homage to the departed anti-US war hero. Jolly appears to be trying to compensate for that.

SECURITY COVER

It pays to be the director of the countrys premier investigating agency,Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Former CBI director A P Singh,who is currently a member of Union Public Service Commission,has been provided security,which includes guards at his residence. Singh,who retired in November last year,was only allotted a PSO but after it was reported that there was some threat,the government decided to enhance his security. During his tenure as CBI chief,Singh handled several high-profile cases like 2G spectrum,Sohrabuddin encounter,Dara Singh encounter and CWG scam.